Between Fiscal, Ideological, and Social Dilemmas: The Soviet ‘Bachelor Tax’ and Post-war Tax Reform, 1941–1962

Kristy Ironside*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

This article examines the ‘tax on bachelors, singles, and small families of the USSR’. The tax was introduced in 1941 to boost the birth rate and expanded in 1944 to finance the state’s benefits offered to mothers and children. The Ministry of Finance eventually moved away from its support for the regressive and inefficient bachelor tax and explored other tax-based strategies to boost the birth rate and support families. However, it was constrained in its reform efforts, both by Khrushchev and by ideas about the appropriate role of taxes as the Soviet Union progressed away from crisis and towards communism.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)855-878
Number of pages24
JournalEurope - Asia Studies
Volume69
Issue number6
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 28 Jul 2017

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